Bauer Hotel - Venice, Italy

This buzzing landmark hotel with a modern edge is one of the last great Venice establishments still in private hands, and its strict, utilitarian facade and subdued interiors are a refreshing antidote to all the gilded and baroque excesses of the city. Refurbished to the tune of $38 million in 1999, it represents an exemplary marriage between cutting-edge technology and good old-fashioned craftsmanship. Behind all the trappings of expensive luxury—local Murano glasswork, rich Rubelli furnishings and Carrara marble floors—it’s a high-tech wonderland, with wireless connections in every room, flat-screen TVs and the very first solar-powered vaporetto in the city, for quiet, ecologically sound, water-bound transfers. READ FULL REVIEW »